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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26064361">quinn cooper vs. the sun</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/poindextears/pseuds/sincerelyreidburke'>sincerelyreidburke (poindextears)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Kiersey College OC-Verse [12]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Kiersey College (Webseries), Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>American Sign Language, Arizona - Freeform, Deaf Character, Domestic Boyfriends, Established Relationship, Gratuitous Spanish Pet-Naming, He is very smart but very very stupid, Heat Stroke, Kiersey College, M/M, Quinn does not understand the sun, Quinn has softcore baby fever, Sebastián Hernandez is a Supportive Boyfriend, Sick Fic, Talking About The Future, Yes Really, ends in fluff</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 11:48:51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,986</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26064361</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/poindextears/pseuds/sincerelyreidburke</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Quinn’s first mistake is going outside. At the time, it seems like a lovely idea.</p><p>Or: Quinn is not used to Arizonan summers, and learns his lesson.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>OMC/OMC, Sebastián "Nando" Hernandez/Quinn Cooper</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Kiersey College OC-Verse [12]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1878397</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Kiersey College</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>quinn cooper vs. the sun</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hello! Have some more Quinn and Nando stuff! This takes place later than anything I've ever written outside the <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24199399/chapters/58290766">ficlet collection</a>. If you're curious about what Quinn is doing in Arizona for the summer, I can direct you to <a href="https://sincerelyreidburke.tumblr.com/post/617698594573647872/alright-ill-bite-whats-going-on-in-arizona-oo">this Tumblr post</a> where I explained.<br/>Anyway, I got a prompt for Quinn getting heat-sick in Arizona, and this happened. If you're an emetophobe, you may want to skip out on a section of this— it begins with "he realizes on his third glass of water......." and isn't exactly graphic or descriptive, but Quinn does become nauseous thanks to his heat-sickness.</p><p>College sweethearts Quinn and Nando are my OCs, students at the fictional Kiersey College! <a href="https://sincerelyreidburke.tumblr.com/kiersey-college">This page on my tumblr</a> is where you can learn more about the school and its cast of OC characters.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><em> junior-senior summer </em> | <em>june 2021</em></p><p> </p><p>Quinn’s first mistake is going outside. At the <em> time </em>, it seems like a lovely idea.</p><p>It’s his second week in Arizona, and he’s still getting used to the concept of having an entire day all to himself. When he and Sebastián got home from school, they had all of last week to settle in; Quinn got an extensive summer tour of all of his favorite places around the area, for which he was very grateful. It was like a week full of dates, of nothing to do but spend time with one another.</p><p>But now, as the second week begins, Sebastián has started his summer job at his uncle’s restaurant, which means he’s out of the house for part of most days or nights. Mrs. Hernandez, too, is working; her shifts vary, but between being a mom and being a nurse, she’s a very busy lady. With Sebastián, too, now on a work schedule, and his sisters still in school, Quinn has found himself with chunks of time alone in Seabstián’s childhood home.</p><p>This is a temporary state of being— because when Rosa and Gabriella finish school in two more weeks, the summer theatre program at their school will begin, where Quinn will find work for the remainder of the summer. For now… he has some time to kill. And it’s not that he doesn’t do <em> well </em> with free time; goodness, it’s a welcome thing, after the busy spring semester he had. He just can’t remember the last time he had <em> so much </em> of it, all at once. He isn’t used to it.</p><p>Today is a gorgeous summer day, and he wakes to bright sunrise through the basement window. He’s idle and sleepy, by himself in the room, for a few minutes, while he feels the house vibrate with footfalls on the floor above him. He looks through his phone, and laughs at a theatre meme Maggie sent him a few hours ago. She’s up early for her workouts as it is, and given that there’s a time difference, it looks like she sent it at four in the morning, even though it was seven on the East Coast.</p><p>Quinn doesn’t <em> really </em> wake up until he feels movement coming from the stairs; he rolls over just in time to see Sebastián appear at the bottom of them. Dressed for work, he’s in his sneakers and dark pants, plus one of his several t-shirts with the restaurant logo on it, and he looks handsome in a casual way, in a distinctly domestic way.</p><p>Quinn sits halfway up on the pullout as Sebastián crosses the room, stopping bedside to give him a sudden, romantic kiss that makes Quinn swoon. He hums when they come up for air, and Sebastián smiles, before he pulls back to sign. <em> I’m headed to work. I love you. </em></p><p><em> I love you, too </em> , Quinn replies, and then, <em> Have a nice morning. </em></p><p>Sebastián kisses him again before he goes, leaving him dazed and a little dreamy as he watches him disappear back up the stairs in a hurry. He has the breakfast-lunch shift today, an early start and an early end. Mrs. Hernandez left early; her steps in the kitchen, gentle as they were, woke Quinn for a brief five-minute period sometime around five this morning.</p><p>Quinn doesn’t actually put two and two together until he gets a text from Sebastián, 15 minutes later, as he’s making his way out of bed.</p><p>
  <em> iMessage </em>
</p><p>
  <em> 7:23 AM </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Sebastián♥️: clocking in </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Sebastián♥️: love youuuuu </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Sebastián♥️: and by the way </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Sebastián♥️: we’ll have the house to ourselves when I get home </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Sebastián♥️: ;) </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Me: Oh, I see…🥰🥰 </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Me: Well, I’ll see you later then🥰 </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Me: Have a nice shift, don’t think of me😘😘😘  </em>
</p><p>Quinn cannot lie. That <em> is </em> exciting information.</p><p>But Sebastián’s shift lets off at two, so once he helps Gabriella and Rosa onto the 7:40 bus, he walks back up into the house with the knowledge that he has <em> several </em> hours of free time.</p><p>He may as well use it.</p><p>The <em> morning </em>, he spends wisely. After breakfast and tea at the sunny kitchen counter, he gets on a video call with Kyra that winds up lasting almost two hours. Kyra just finished her freshman year at Gallaudet, and now that she’s home in Louisiana, she has much to lament— for starters, she misses her girlfriend, and she also misses D.C., and she tells Quinn she misses him, too. He misses her just the same; they grew so close touring together last summer. She asks about Sebastián, and about what it’s like being in Arizona for more than the handful of days they were in Phoenix on tour. It’s nice to catch up, and they only hang up because she’s going out to run errands with her sister.</p><p>He does a little medical school research after that, spending most of it on the U of Arizona website, reading over application guidelines and getting lost in his little daydream world of what it’ll be like to move back here a year from now after graduation. Being here, in Sebastián’s home with him, infinitely reinforces what he already knows, has known for years— that this is home. Home, he guesses, would be anywhere with him at his side, but Arizona is so clearly <em> Sebastián’s </em>home that Quinn can only see himself building a life in this place, not any other.</p><p>So he researches, and when he exhausts that activity for the day, it’s nearing lunchtime. He has a sandwich, and then… well, that’s when his bad judgement sets in.</p><p>Because as he’s cleaning his dish from lunch and looking out the kitchen window, it occurs to him that it just looks like <em> such </em> a lovely day out there. He’s spent the whole morning indoors, on his computer. Yes, the kitchen is sunny, but it’s not like <em> really </em> being outside. A day like this spent holed up in his dorm at school would be cause for shame.</p><p>He can see it now. He’ll sit in one of the chairs on the back porch, and he’ll work on his latest crocheting project, a little stuffed elephant to put up on his Etsy shop and sell online. He’ll soak up the sun. He’ll be sure to wear sunscreen. It’ll be a nice way to pass the time until Sebastián gets home.</p><p>And <em> then </em>, when he’s home… well. Quinn is excited to have some time alone with him.</p><p>He gathers his crocheting things, plus his sunglasses, a bottle of sunscreen, and his phone. Before he goes out, he pours himself a glass of lemonade from the fridge. Mrs. Hernandez makes it herself, and it is to <em> die </em> for, in all honesty.</p><p>Out on the porch, it’s very warm, but that’s to be expected, Quinn knows, because this is Arizona and it’s going to be warm all the lovely summer long. He sits down in a chair, puts his feet up on another chair across from himself, and gets to work.</p><p>He’s using purple yarn for the elephant. He's on a kick of making baby supplies, mostly because he notices they get sold quickly when he puts them on his shop. <em>You’re a natural, </em> Sebastián told him, last weekend, while they were snuggling in the basement before bed, and Quinn was hard at work on the little hat he made before he started this elephant. <em> When we have kids, are you gonna knit this much stuff? </em></p><p><em> Of course I am, </em> Quinn had replied, without looking up. <em> Even more, in fact. </em></p><p>Sebastián had snuggled him close and coaxed him into a slightly spontaneous little bout of kissing, to which Quinn was not at all opposed.</p><p>He <em> really </em> likes thinking about having kids with him.</p><p>But for now— this. An elephant to sell online. He's not a professional by any means, but he's managed to make a few sales since Maggie had the idea for him to start up an online shop a little while ago. It isn't much money, but it <em>is</em> money. And if there's something profitable he's good at, it's knit goods.</p><p>So he makes his little elephant and passes the time on the porch in the sun. He sips at the lemonade every now and then, but gets a little lost in his work.</p><p>That’s how the feeling sneaks up on him.</p><p>He’s sitting there, repeating his yarn pattern, unsure exactly what time it is or how long he’s been outside— and suddenly, he is very, very warm.</p><p>The sun has been beating on him for who knows how long, so it’s not like he’s been <em> cold </em> out here at all— he just becomes aware, in this moment, that he’s, well… quite warm. He wipes at his forehead and realizes he’s sweating; he isn’t sure how long he’s been sweating. How bad was his crocheting trance, that he began <em> sweating </em> without knowing?</p><p>He glances around the back porch for a shady spot, but it’s the time of the day where the sun beats down on all corners of it. He grabs for his lemonade and takes a sip; it’s still a little cool but not nearly as ice-cold as it was when he poured it.</p><p>One sip is not enough, as it turns out, to cool him down. He takes another. But each sip is like a moment of very temporary refreshment, and he’s downed the entire glass before he knows it. He stares into the bottom of it and exhales, then presses a hand to his cheek. He’s so warm; he feels like he’s running a fever.</p><p>Well, alright. He has to go inside, then. There’s air conditioning inside, and that will help him cool down. He gathers his supplies and stands, but when he does, he gets a head rush so strong his vision blacks out for a moment. And when his vision <em> returns </em> , it’s almost no better, because his body is so <em> hot </em> it feels like there should be some kind of fire alarm going off, and— okay, yes— he needs to get inside.</p><p>When he walks back through the sliding door, it’s like a blast of air from a freezer, and it, like the lemonade, is only cause for temporary relief. He deposits his unfinished elephant, hooks, and yarn on the kitchen counter, then fills his empty lemonade glass with ice and then water.</p><p>It takes him only a second to down it, and he exhales. That’s better. Or at least it’s better for a minute. His face, he realizes, is still burning up, and the feeling extends to his entire body, and he is just— unwell. How long did he sit out there, in the beating midday sun?</p><p>More water, he decides. More water will fix this. He fills his glass again, sits down at the counter, and takes a long, deep breath before he downs it.</p><p>All of these things are mistakes, but it’ll take him a brief while to realize this.</p><p>*</p><p>He’s on his third glass of water when he realizes that the water is not helping.</p><p>In fact, maybe it’s making it worse. He can’t get cool, even when he opens the freezer just to let the air hit him for a minute. He thinks he’s most definitely having heat stroke, and he can’t think of anything to do for it but try to get cool.</p><p>The water sloshes around in his stomach, and the nausea sets in. It’s enough to bring him off his feet; he kneels in the middle of the kitchen floor and takes several long, deep breaths. He’ll be okay. He isn’t going to be ill. He wasn’t <em> that </em> warm—</p><p>Oh. Okay. He holds his hand to his stomach and swallows. Maybe he really <em> is </em> nauseous enough to be sick.</p><p>His face is still burning when he makes it to the bathroom, and he’s ill into the toilet, which feels just disgusting and would be horribly embarrassing were anyone home to see it. When his stomach calms itself, at least for the time being, he flushes the toilet and then crawls over to the air conditioning vent in the room to sit over it. His shirt is sweaty, and clinging to his back, and he huddles himself into a ball and tries to breathe. He wills himself: <em> get cool. Get cool. Get cool. </em></p><p>He has no idea what possessed him to be so <em> negligent </em> , but he is <em> so warm </em> . And <em> goodness </em>, does he feel silly. His stomach still doesn’t feel wonderful, but he thinks he’s alright for the moment. He holds a hand to his face and the other to his stomach under his sweaty shirt, and he breathes, in through his nose, out through his mouth.</p><p>He’ll be alright. He’ll cool down. Eventually. Somehow. He hopes.</p><p>This is <em> not </em> shaping up to be a very good day.</p><p>*</p><p>Today is shaping up to be a <em> great </em> day, for Nando.</p><p>His morning shift at work goes by relatively quickly, because business is steady and it keeps him consistently busy in the back kitchen, busting out order after order. Raf is working, too, and work is always a better experience when he and Raf are on together.</p><p>But Nando can’t lie— today, he’s excited to get home. Really excited. So when he punches out after the lunch rush, he makes a mad dash for his truck and gets outta dodge.</p><p>On the quick drive home, he plays some loud Bad Bunny music, grooving in his seat to the safest of his ability. Only a few minutes lay between him and at least an hour and a half alone with Quinn— and that has a <em> massive </em> amount of appeal to him today. It’s not even for, like, specifically inappropriate reasons— sure, that’s a <em> part </em> of it, but really, it’s just nice to have the house to themselves. They have a little more leeway with PDA when it’s not PDA, since there’s no one around to see it.</p><p>Let’s put it this way: when Mama or his sisters are home, he can’t carry Quinn around the kitchen for fun, or make out with him on the basement couch, or use quite as much leeway with sweet-talking him, as he can when they’re by themselves in the house. And also, having the house to themselves always makes him feel some type of way with regard to domestic fantasies. One day, he always reminds himself, they’ll have their <em> own </em> house, and they can fill it up with their love.</p><p><em> That </em> gives him a lot of daydreaming material.</p><p>So he pulls into the driveway practically on two wheels, and stops the loud music when he shuts off his truck, leaving the keys in the cup holder and dashing up the driveway to the front door. “Oh, <em> mi cariñoooooo </em>,” he sings, dancing through the front door with the music still on his brain. “I’m hooooome!”</p><p>There’s no response from within the house, and it occurs to him as he’s leaving his shoes by the door that Quinn might not actually be listening. If he’s alone, a good rule of thumb is that he’s not wearing his hearing aids. (It feels nice to shout that he’s home anyway, like they’re a married couple on a TV show, but whatever.)</p><p>“Quinn?” he tries again, making his way into the kitchen. Quinn is definitely <em> around </em>— well, not that he wouldn’t be, but still, Nando knows that much, ‘cause his stuff is on the counter. He left a ball of light purple yarn, the stuff he’s using for the latest collection on his online shop, next to an unfinished little crochet elephant. There’s also a glass in the sink, with some melted ice in it, and Quinn’s phone and sunglasses are near the elephant.</p><p>Nando smiles a little, at the scene. Quinn has been engaged in online shop mode since they came home to start this summer, and Nando can’t even lie… watching his boyfriend knit all kinds of baby things is <em> really </em> giving him fantasies about what Quinn will be like as a dad. The way he interacts with Rosa and Gabi adds to the mix. Even back at Christmas, when Quinn was home with him, he held Nando’s cousin’s baby, and it was just— so good.</p><p><em> God </em>, he’s going to be the best dad.</p><p>“Baby?” he calls, one more time, just to see if Quinn is listening, but no luck. He stomps three times on the floor, which is the <em> actual </em> best way to alert Quinn of your presence.</p><p>What’s weirder is that <em> that </em> doesn’t get a response. Quinn could be asleep, he guesses, but his boyfriend is not one to take a nap in the middle of the day, and even if he <em> were </em> doing that, the stomping would usually wake him up. Nando opens the basement door and goes halfway down the stairs, to see if he’s down there, but he’s not, so he turns around.</p><p>Well, he has to be <em> somewhere </em>. Nando stomps again, in the kitchen. Nothing.</p><p>Maybe he went for a walk. But why would he go for a walk, without his phone? Why would he do <em> anything </em> outside for more than a few minutes, with how hot it is today? He doesn’t even know the neighborhood that well, yet…</p><p>He’s starting to freak out <em> just </em> slightly when he walks by the downstairs bathroom, and hears the smallest noise from inside.</p><p>“Quinn?” He doubles back, and pushes at the door, which wasn’t closed but was only sort of cracked. And when he gives, there he finds him— Quinn is curled up in a ball on the bathroom floor, hands in his hair, knees pulled to his chest.</p><p>“Baby,” Nando breathes, and darts over to him to kneel in front of him. What happened to him? He reaches for his hand, and when Quinn looks up to meet his eyes, he looks— <em> sick </em> , all red-faced and in pain, and Nando does not panic but definitely needs to know what’s going on. <em> What’s wrong? </em>he signs.</p><p>Quinn takes a long, shivery breath, and pulls his hands up to use them. Two years in, Nando is not exactly <em> fluent </em> in sign language, a fact he becomes aware of when Quinn video chats his Deaf friends from tour last summer, and his hands fly at the speed of sound. But Nando <em> is </em> efficient enough to be able to hold conversations with him, and he’s getting better all the time. Quinn’s motions are small, and he looks so miserably sick. <em> I’m hot </em>, he signs.</p><p>Nando touches a hand to his forehead, and <em> whoa </em> — yeah, Quinn <em> is </em> hot. <em> Did you go outside? </em>he asks, and Quinn nods, then groans and presses his forehead to his knees.</p><p>Okay. Okay. Nando has been overheated before, and he knows how much it sucks, and he knows ways to fix it. He signs <em> wait a moment </em>, then rushes to the sink and grabs a washcloth, wetting it with cool water and kneeling back down next to Quinn to hold it to his face.</p><p>Quinn exhales again, still shakily, and tips his cheek into the cool— which is good, but probably won’t be enough. Nando sits by his side, and notices how sweaty his shirt is; he should probably get it off, and maybe get him into a cool shower, or— okay, one thing at a time. A lifetime with Mama has taught him basic caretaking instincts, and he knows that heat stroke can be dangerous. He wonders how long Quinn was outside. What was he doing outside? Maybe he just wanted to relax; Nando is pretty sure that Quinn doesn’t understand the full power of the sun down here. Sitting out in the sun is a lot different on a warm spring day back at Kiersey than it is during a summer heat wave in Tempe.</p><p>He hands the washcloth to Quinn so he can keep cooling his face, and then reaches carefully for the hem of his shirt, pulling at it and raising his eyebrows. This is not at all a new signal for them, but it’s in a very different context today than Nando has ever used it. Quinn nods, and Nando helps him get it off, casting it aside. Even his torso is sort of red. Quinn is holding a hand to his stomach, a pretty sure sign that he is or was nauseous, and he groans again, a little sound as he lowers his head back to his knees.</p><p><em> God </em>. His poor baby. Nando wishes he got home sooner, or— that he warned him better about the heat, or— something. He wonders how long he’s been sitting here, miserable, like this.</p><p>Their next stop should be upstairs, where there are bigger towels for him to wet and use and also a tub so Nando can soak him down if needed. He gets his eye contact again, and then tries asking, <em> Can I bring you upstairs? </em></p><p>Quinn makes a little noise, and then nods, slowly, so Nando scoops him up and hoists him into his arms for the quick trip up the stairs. Quinn is still holding the washcloth, and when Nando has all of him held close to his chest, he can feel that his body is, yeah, pretty warm, so he thinks maybe he will utilize the shower. He rubs his back, which is sticky with cool sweat, and moves with a purpose up the stairs until he can deposit him gently into the tub in the bathroom.</p><p><em> You need cool water </em> , he tells him, and Quinn nods, ducking his head. With the situation in control, Nando feels a <em> little </em> better— but he still needs to take care of him, to make sure he feels better as quick as he can. He feels awful that he wasn’t home.</p><p>But now he <em> is </em> home, so he can take care of him, and the rest of the process is relatively straightforward.</p><p>*</p><p>Sebastián gives him a quick and cold soaking in the shower, which does quite a number on the surging heat in Quinn’s body. When he’s done with that, he sits him in the tub with a damp towel for another few more minutes, and Quinn is so horribly embarrassed but grateful that it was at least Sebastián who came home and found him and not, God forbid, Mrs. Hernandez. He would have felt even more silly if it were her, if <em> she </em> had to be the one to help him cool down like this. Goodness knows what she would have even done, with all of her nurse instincts. Quinn would have felt like a pretty sorry excuse for a pre-med student.</p><p>They wind up on the basement couch, or, really, Quinn’s bed, but right now it’s pulled in, so it’s a couch. Downstairs is the coolest room in the house, so once Sebastián seems satisfied with the level to which he’s cooled down his internal temperature, he helps him change into a clean pair of gym shorts Sebastián must have grown out of years ago and then carries him down to the basement.</p><p>There, they rest; Quinn lays sideways on the couch and puts his head in his lap, and breathes steady, trying only to focus on the feeling of his fingers smoothing his hair and not the lingering shame or nausea. Sebastián is patient and steady and doesn’t move, and Quinn feels, after a bit, that it’s possible his body temperature has returned to a healthy normal. He still feels a bit ill, which, in hindsight, he knows is because he drank so many fluids at once after not hydrating all morning— but he’s going to be fine; he knows that much.</p><p>He isn’t sure how long they’ve been there when he decides he wants to speak out loud, but he lifts his head and crawls across him a little to reach for his hearing aids on the bedside (or couchside) table. He can’t reach, but Sebastián seems to get the hint, because he hands them to him and keeps a hand resting steady on his back as Quinn presses them into his ears and turns them on. He wishes he could wrap his arms around him, but Sebastián is always warm, and the thought of that much bodily contact right now makes him worry he’d heat up again.</p><p>When his ears are on, and he’s hearing white noise for the first time all day, he takes a long, deep breath before he meets Sebastián’s eyes. “I’m so sorry,” he groans.</p><p>“Baby,” Sebastián whispers. Quinn has come to be sure, over the past two years, that this boy’s voice is the only sound in the world he’s truly grateful to hear. “Why are you sorry?”</p><p>“Because— I feel so <em> stupid </em> ,” he replies, pressing his hand to his own forehead and sighing. “I <em> knew </em> it was warm out there and I still sat in the sun—”</p><p>Sebastián’s hand flattens on the small of his back. “How long were you out there?”</p><p>“I have no idea,” he replies, truthfully. “At least a good little while, and— I didn’t even <em> hydrate </em> ; I feel so <em> silly </em>—”</p><p>“Baby, there’s nothing you can do about it now,” Sebastián replies, even-voiced and very gentle. “And you don’t have to feel stupid. I’ve lived here my whole <em> life </em> and it’s happened to me before. Sometimes you don’t realize how hot it is until you get overheated.”</p><p>Quinn lowers his eyes and nods, slowly. “That’s… precisely what happened to me.”</p><p>“Please,” Sebastián says. “Don’t say you’re sorry, okay? I’m just glad I got home when I did.”</p><p>“So am I.” He slides his hand up his arm, squeezes at his bicep, and whispers, “Thank you.”</p><p>“You don’t have to thank me.” Sebastián presses a quick kiss to his forehead. “I’m glad you’re okay.”</p><p>Quinn nods again, then takes a pause before the embarrassment creeps up in him again. He groans, remembering their texts this morning, and meets his eyes to add, “I really am sorry, though.” And before Sebastián can protest, he explains— “We… had the afternoon, and I certainly threw a wrench in it.”</p><p>Sebastián laughs, and shakes his head. His eyes look so nice in the light down here, Quinn registers faintly. They’re brown, always have been, but they catch every ray of sunlight. “There are gonna be other times, baby,” he assures him, which Quinn knows there <em> will </em>, but he still feels awfully silly for ruining a perfectly good opportunity today. “I’d much rather have taken care of you than have had you hospitalized for heat stroke.”</p><p>Quinn laughs, and tries pressing his forehead into his shoulder. It’s a little warm, so he lifts his head again after a moment, and presses a kiss to his jaw to mumble, “I’ll make it up to you.”</p><p>Sebastián winks. Goodness, he can really be charming. “Noted and received.”</p><p>They share a deep breath, and Quinn is so, so grateful to no longer feel like he’s graced the surface of the actual sun. His body still feels shaky, and he’s pretty sure it’ll be at least dinnertime before he has any appetite again, if that, but he is most definitely going to be fine. Not that he wasn’t, before. But he knows he can be a bit dramatic in the moment.</p><p>At least he’s self-aware.</p><p>“Wait,” he says, as Sebastián looks like he’s going to kiss him.</p><p>Sebastián halts. “Sorry. Too hot?”</p><p>“No, I— I just, one thing.” Quinn knows he looks sheepish, but he has to get it across. “Don’t… um, maybe don’t tell your mom?”</p><p>Sebastián squints at him, and then bursts out laughing. Quinn swats him in the chest. “<em> Sebastián </em>! I am serious!”</p><p>He covers his mouth with his hand. “Why don’t you want me to tell her?”</p><p>“Because I don’t want her to think I’m—” He shakes his head. “<em> Negligent </em> , or something. I mean, for goodness’ sake, I am a <em> pre-med </em> student, and I didn’t think I could have overheated out there?”</p><p>“Baby,” Sebastián laughs. “I told you, it happens to everyone. Especially people who aren’t used to the climate. She wouldn’t think you’re negligent for it; she would understand.”</p><p>“I just feel so <em> silly </em>,” he mumbles.</p><p>“I won’t tell her,” Sebastián promises, “<em> but </em> you should know, there’s nothing to feel silly over. I promise you, <em> cariño </em>.”</p><p>“Well… alright.” Quinn is just grateful it’ll stay between them. “That’s… alright. I believe you.”</p><p>“But,” Sebastián adds, with a little twinkle in his eye again, “you’ve gotta start getting used to the heat.”</p><p>“Oh?” Quinn knows exactly what he’s getting at, and it makes him warm inside in a very different, less sick-inducing way. He wants to play along like he doesn’t know, anyway, because he wants to make him say it, so he cocks his head and remarks, “And why is that?”</p><p>“Because,” Sebastián says, “when we live here together, that’s gonna be your whole life.”</p><p>“Mm.” Quinn smiles up at him. “I suppose you’re right. I really should get on that.”</p><p>“You’ll get used to it,” Sebastián assures him, leaning close to almost kiss him. “We’ve got a whole summer ahead of us.”</p><p>“That we do,” he hums, and what a beautiful thing to remember. He kisses him gently, and then says, “Thanks for taking care of me, papi.”</p><p>He loves watching Sebastián react to that. His eyes stay bright, and he half-smiles, half-chuckles. “I told you,” he says. “There’s no need to thank me.”</p><p><em> Gosh </em>, Quinn would love to kiss him right now. Not just once, but many, many times. But he’s still a bit worried about overheating, and thinks he should play it safe. He gives him one more soft kiss, and then stretches back out on the couch, resting his head in his lap.</p><p>Sebastián is right— there will be other days. Quinn will get those kisses back. For now, they can rest.</p><p>They have a whole summer ahead of them.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p><a href="https://sincerelyreidburke.tumblr.com/">Come hang out</a> on tumblr, or yell at me to your heart's content either here or there (or both, if you feel so inclined)! Thank you very much for reading.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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